


I Don't Go to Sleep to Dream

by smokingbomber



Series: Between the Bars [4]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Post Sailor Stars, Post-Canon, Pre-Crystal Tokyo, Shipping Like FedEx, Usamamo 5eva
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-22 13:00:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4836320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smokingbomber/pseuds/smokingbomber
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dawn from the other side, awake too long. Usagi and Mamoru, a snapshot of comfort at daybreak.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Don't Go to Sleep to Dream

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [I Can Say it in Nightmares](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4733417) by [catbru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/catbru/pseuds/catbru). 



"It rained last night," she murmured, fingers curling up into the curtains. They tightened until her hands were fists in the fabric, wrinkling it, then let go and smoothed the wrinkles down again.

There was quiet behind her, the dim bedside lamp glowing steadily against the grey pre-dawn outside. The balcony door was open, unscreened; the apartment was far up enough that there was precious little danger of insects flying in, and she wanted to see the sky.

She waited.

A page turned.

Usagi glanced back over her shoulder; she hadn't heard a page turn in a while, and the heaviness of Mamoru's head was apparent. His eyes were bleary behind his glasses, and a wryly fond smile tugged at one corner of her mouth.

"Dummy. Go to sleep," she told him, the smile widening. "You dozed off already. You'll crease your book."

"Won't," Mamoru mumbled stubbornly, glancing up from the page he was too tired to read. He blinked hard, eyes opening a little too wide, then set his chin.

"You don't have to stay up," she said then, torn between turning around to see the dawn she was rarely up to see and just watching him fall asleep by inches.

"Do," he insisted, gaze meeting hers pointedly.

"What are you, twelve?" Usagi laughed, turning to look at the sky again. It had shaded from grey-blue to the faintest lavender, and dusty rose clouds drifted high in the stratosphere, ragged and faint. "You don't even like it. You'll fall asleep on me while I'm watching it and I'll get a dead arm."

"You don't mind," said Mamoru almost sulkily, biting back a yawn. He closed his book, then opened it again. "I'll sleep just fine if you come to bed."

Even after all this time, her face still warmed, and she smiled at the brightening sky. He talked to her about his nightmares, now; he held her close and hid his face and spoke, voice quiet and shaky, and let her in all the way. Let her see him vulnerable. He trusted her shoulders to bear his burdens just as she trusted his to bear hers. 

He didn't have nightmares very often anymore, but the habit was a long time forming. He didn't want to sleep without her if he didn't have to.

The sky was brighter now, pink and orange tinting the clouds, and clouds still higher up were turning the purest white. The last stars slowly vanished into the clearing blue. In a moment, the sun would come up over the water and paint the buildings gold.

"You'll sleep with the themesong stuck in your head," she warned. "I'm not missing it. It's the first episode in a year and a half and I want to see it _fresh_."

"What are you, twelve?" Mamoru repeated back at her, but there was no real mockery in it, only a sort of resigned affection. He closed the book again, then took off his glasses.

"Copycat," she teased, but she heard him sliding off the mattress, and in the stillness she heard his bare feet padding across the carpet. She could feel his presence, she could feel him approaching even if she hadn't been able to hear his footsteps.

It was no surprise, only the welcomed completion of his journey, when she felt his warm arms slide around her sides and lock around her belly. She tilted her head back and to the side, his body heat at her back staving off the dawn's chill, and sighed out in a dream as his head moved alongside hers and he kissed her neck.

Everything was gold, now, and the sun warmed her from the front, and she closed her eyes. "Unfair," she breathed, melting against him. "So unfair. So mean. Ulterior motives."

"Come to bed," coaxed Mamoru, smiling against her skin.

She could hold out. If she could hold out just a little longer, she could--

She was falling asleep on her feet, and she was smiling too. "Jerk," whispered Usagi.

Then, "Okay." Then, "But you have to ca--"

He was already lifting her up, and she half-turned, giggling sleepily into his chest. Her ring caught the sunrise as he cradled her in his arms, and tiny rainbows danced around the walls of the bedroom.

"Oh, Tuxedo Kamen-sama~" she singsonged, sliding her hand up over his shoulder, and he smirked at her before bending his head to kiss her nose.

But then he laid her in the bed and crept in beside her, her hand catching at him and dragging across skin and fabric as he moved until he was behind her and she couldn't reach anymore.

That was all right, though, because he was already curled around her, face in her hair and breathing evening out. Usagi was warm and safe and comfortable, and there was peace everywhere, even if she knew it would only be for a few more years.

For a few years, she could savor this.

**Author's Note:**

> The nightmares are pretty much CatBru's from her [Untethered](http://archiveofourown.org/series/317042) universe because now that's part of my headcanon. This is some sort of vague timeliney space where they should probably technically already be on the throne but the events leading to Crystal Tokyo haven't even really started yet and Pluto's not worried so they're all just kinda chill and adulting around in their 30s while all looking 22, bahahah.


End file.
